chefdruck.comhttp://chefdruck.com
French Foodie MomMon, 05 Feb 2018 21:55:30 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ChefdruckMusingshttps://feedburner.google.comSubscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with PageflakesSubscribe with PlusmoSubscribe with The Free DictionarySubscribe with Bitty BrowserSubscribe with NewsAlloySubscribe with Live.comSubscribe with Excite MIXSubscribe with Yourminis.comSubscribe with Attensa for OutlookSubscribe with WebwagSubscribe with netomat HubSubscribe with Podcast ReadySubscribe with FlurrySubscribe with WikioSubscribe with Daily RotationMy blog feed has been hijacked by scrapers. To protect my content I've had to shorten my feed. Please head over to http://www.chefdruck.com to read the rest of this post.Roasted Green Beans with Cashew Miso Saucehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChefdruckMusings/~3/PXlKAhlMz3I/
http://chefdruck.com/2018/02/roasted-green-beans-with-cashew-miso-sauce/#respondMon, 05 Feb 2018 21:55:30 +0000http://chefdruck.com/?p=6247Diets are not my thing. Never have been and never will be, no matter how tight my jeans get. So this winter, rather than eliminating and limiting, I’m adding lots of exciting new vegetable dishes to my dinner repertoire. Good for you dishes that zing with flavor. I asked for vegetarian cookbooks for Christmas and have found tons of inspiration. I merged two tweaked Mark Bittman recipes to come up with my favorite new vegetable dish: roasted green beans with cashew miso sauce.

Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything Vegetarian has been the greatest of all the veggie cookbooks I received. With almost 800 pages of gorgeous vegetarian recipes, it’s the must have vegetable resource. Mouth watering photography is key to get you inspired and it has gorgeous pictures in droves.

This dish will blow you away. The flavors make you sit up and take notice. The roasted green beans would be fun and tasty on their own, but the miso sauce is like nothing you’ve ever tasted before. So salty and assertive that you might think you don’t like it, until you go back for another dip, and another dip, and another. You can serve it on the side or toss the green beans in it. We licked the bowl and made another batch the next night.

This is the kind of dish that could easily be an entire dinner. The flavors are so satisfying that no meaty protein is needed. This type of recipe that walks on the wild side makes me so happy, it’s almost enough to turn me into a full time vegetarian. But then I remember how much I love a sizzling steak, and I settle for these exciting new vegetable dishes to count as my take on dieting instead.

Clean and trim your green beens of rough ends. Put them in a large ziploc. Pour in the olive oil, salt and pepper. Close the ziplock and give them a big toss and a massage to coat with oil and spices.

Roast at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes.

While the beans are roasting, toss the miso, cashews and soy sauce in a small food processor. Pulse until mixed. Taste to see if there is enough salt. Add a little more soy sauce if needed.

Remove the green beans from the oven. Toss with the nut miso mixture. Serve warm.

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]]>http://chefdruck.com/2018/02/roasted-green-beans-with-cashew-miso-sauce/feed/0http://chefdruck.com/2018/02/roasted-green-beans-with-cashew-miso-sauce/2018: the Year of No Regretshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChefdruckMusings/~3/yAMfNuK57RU/
http://chefdruck.com/2017/12/no-regrets-for-2018/#commentsSun, 31 Dec 2017 18:07:07 +0000http://chefdruck.com/?p=62362018 will be my year of NO REGRETS

My father passed away a little over two years ago and still, his death weighs heavy on my heart and my actions. What I wouldn’t give to have a few more conversations with him, or to have my kids, especially the older ones, get to linger over dinner with him, having him drive them crazy as he played devil’s advocate on the pro-choice movement, the merits of the death penalty, or Hemingway’s prose. My dad loved a good debate. Conflict-averse, I’d get up to clear the table, to escape the discussion, and he’d refill my wine glass, beckon me back to the table. “We’ll do the dishes later,” he would say with a smile. “Sit with me a while. Let’s talk a little longer.”

I regret not lingering longer with him after dinner.

He hadn’t reached his 70th birthday when he died, after a long struggle with emphysema and a failed double lung transplant. After the transplant, he fought to live for two long years, gradually losing all his joys, first wine, then gardening, and finally eating and speaking. During his good days, he would speak of the long list of things he wanted to do as soon as he was better. His list was long, but it boiled down to two main things: travel and write a really good novel, one he could really be proud of.

Writing under the pen name of Alexander Campion, his Capucine culinary mystery series had a dedicated fan base, all over the world. The Japanese cover was adorable. The five-book series revealed his rich life, his love of food, his career as a consultant and an investment banker, and his rich vocabulary. He ran out of time, but he had another book to write. A smarter one. A harder one.

I regret not being able to read it.

2017 was a hard year for many. It was a year that revealed so much hate all over the world. A year that let racism explode out of the shadows. But also a year that forced people out of their complacent lives, that forced them to become activists, to come together with strangers and march, speak up, and organize. Before 2017, I never would have dreamed that I’d march like I did in college! I have great hope for 2018, that we will beat back the hate and the ugliness and return to what makes this the country of opportunity.

So my personal resolution for 2018 is a cheesy hashtag. #NoRegrets.

Time is a tricky bitch, robbing us of our youth, our health, our brains, long before we planned. I’ve seen it happen it to my dad. I’m seeing it happen to my mom. I can’t let it happen to me.

So 2018 will mark my new #NoRegrets mantra. No more putting off the book, the trips, the experiences. Every day must be lived in full, without regret. Time must be outrun, not complacently counted on.

We’ll be starting 2018 in the Caribbean sun, toasting my dad with an expensive glass of wine, because life is definitely too short for cheap wine. Then home to write the last four chapters of my novel, to submit two short stories for publication, and to fill my days with creation and creativity, between car pools, walks with Wilson, and trips to be with my mom. In May, I’ll be planting my garden, although I have none of my dad’s green thumbs. In June, you’ll find me on Lake Michigan, learning to sail. Here’s the link to the Columbia Yacht Club basic keelboat certification class if you want to join me – don’t wait – it sells out way before Lake Michigan thaws. And in November, you’ll find me canvassing, doing my part to turn the tide of hate.

So there you have it. Goodbye 2017. Good riddance. And bring on 2018, the year of NO REGRETS.

]]>http://chefdruck.com/2017/12/no-regrets-for-2018/feed/1http://chefdruck.com/2017/12/no-regrets-for-2018/Fire Roasted Tomato Souphttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChefdruckMusings/~3/HXKMcpfb6fM/
http://chefdruck.com/2017/11/fire-roasted-tomato-soup/#respondWed, 08 Nov 2017 16:00:37 +0000http://chefdruck.com/?p=6229Is there anything better than tomato soup to beat back the November chill? I don’t think so. Especially when the tomatoes that go into the soup have been oven roasted. Fire roasted tomato soup is a celebration of color and flavor. One I can’t get enough of.

I used to buy canned fire roasted tomatoes until this summer when I met a mysterious farmer who made quite an impression.

One July Sunday morning, Steve and I stole away for a few minutes of alone time at the farmer’s market. We strolled up and down the aisles, still sleepy and un-showered, letting the colors of the produce wash over us as we enjoyed a few blissful kid-free minutes. The farmer’s voice jolted us out of our reverie. “My tomatoes are really something special. You can’t walk past until you’ve tasted one.” I looked up, surprised by the certainty in the farmer’s voice. He was a preppy guy around my age and he peered up at me with a confident smile. “Trust me. You can’t walk past without trying one of my tomatoes.” He had a small stall and was selling a few pints of colorful cherry tomatoes and some jars of salsa.

I walked up and tried what he promised was the sweetest tomato he grew. It exploded in my mouth like a really good piece of candy. Steve and I looked at each other and smiled. There’s nothing like a sweet summer tomato. The farmer smiled, gloating a little. “I told you they were good. But if you really want to make them a religious experience, you won’t just eat them raw. You’ll toss them with a little olive oil and roast them. Believe me.”

Me with the best tomatoes I grew this summer. Didn’t roast those babies – they got topped with burrata.

Steve and I went home with four pints of his tomatoes and headed straight for the kitchen. We tossed his tomatoes in the oven, then pureed them and made the greatest pizzas we’d ever had. We did it all summer long. We tossed the roasted tomatoes in everything: fresh pasta, soft scrambled eggs, even as a topping for steak. We were hooked. We only saw him one other time. He vanished from the market, leaving us hungry for more. But he left us with his fire roasted tomato idea, and even now that the summer tomatoes are just a painful memory, we continue to roast to boost the flavor of supermarket tomatoes. Now that the weather is turning chilly, our fire roasted oven tomatoes go into warm soup, filled with flavor, the perfect thing to beat the cold.

Roasting the tomatoes in the oven really makes the tomato flavor pop, bringing back the taste of summer no matter the season.

Author: Vanessa Druckman

Cuisine: American

Serves: serves 6

Ingredients

4 pints of cherry tomatoes, the sweetest you can find

¼ cup of olive oil

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

2 tablespoons of butter

1 sweet yellow onion, diced

2 cups of tomato juice

2 to 4 tablespoons of light brown sugar

⅓ cups of sherry

⅓ cups of shredded mozzarella

salt and pepper

Instructions

Wash and halve your cherry tomatoes. Toss them with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.

Spread them in one layer on two cookie sheets. Roast at 450 degrees fahrenheit for 35 minutes. Remove from the pan and puree with a hand blender or in a food processor. Set aside.

Heat a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the butter until melted.

Add the onion and saute until translucent and soft, about 5-7 minutes.

Pour in the fire roasted tomatoes and stir well. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and mix well. Pour in the tomato juice. Bring back to a boil.

Now taste the soup to assess the acidity. Every batch of tomatoes is different and you may need a little more sugar at this point if the soup still tastes really acidic. You’ll know when you have it right. Add more sugar one teaspoon at a time to not go from acidic to too sweet all at once.

Pour in the sherry and bring back to a boil. I like to boil away the boozy taste that comes from the alcohol, leaving behind just the savory sweetness of sherry. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes.

Before serving, sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.

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]]>http://chefdruck.com/2017/11/fire-roasted-tomato-soup/feed/0http://chefdruck.com/2017/11/fire-roasted-tomato-soup/Chicken and Dumplings: an American Classic with a French Basehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChefdruckMusings/~3/aPCWHcL7LzU/
http://chefdruck.com/2017/10/chicken-and-dumplings/#respondMon, 30 Oct 2017 15:21:14 +0000http://chefdruck.com/?p=6223I don’t remember the first time I went to cracker barrel, but I remember the first time I introduced my kids to the comfort food highway chain. With its quaint rocking chairs and wooden peg solitaire game, a meal at Cracker Barrel takes the pain out of long road trips. Instantly. My kids love to stock up on 80s tv show DVDs and forgotten candy, but my favorite Cracker Barrel treat is a plate of chicken and dumplings. This fall, I took the radical step of adding chicken and dumplings to our family dinners.

Why had I never thought to do this before? Why did I limit the joy of this quintessential comfort food only to a highway restaurant? Foolishness. Pure foolishness. Life is too short to only have chicken and dumplings during painful road trips. It’s such an easy dish to make and it has a huge wow factor when you pull off the dutch oven’s lid and reveal the golden puffy dumplings.

As soon as the leaves start turning, I want to start cooking colorful things in my kitchen too.

My chicken and dumpling recipe is Martha Stewart meets Julia Child. The Martha Stewart Cookbook and Child’s Joy of Cooking are my kitchen bibles. The chicken base is inspired by the pages and pages of Julia Child’s chicken fricassee dishes: Chicken + Flour + Stock + veggies. The magic comes with the addition of Martha Stewart’s dumplings. It’s a simple dough made from baking powder, milk and flour. I punch it up with a few spices. You drop it from a spoon on top of the simmering chicken dish. They look like wet lumps of failed homemade play-do. Thirty minutes later, they are golden and puffy, the perfect vehicle for the savory sauce in which the chicken has been cooking.

This is the kind of dish where a homemade chicken stock shines. It really, really makes a difference. I’ve used store-bought chicken stock and the chicken and dumplings are still delish, but trust me on this. Make your own chicken stock. Not only will it make your kitchen smell amazing… it will be the greatest base for chicken and dumplings.

A colorful dutch oven is my go to for this dish, because it comes together in less than 45 minutes. I have never tried to make it in the slow cooker. You could, I suppose, make the chicken in its sauce in the slow cooker for 2-3 hours, but you would have to transfer it to a covered chef’s pan to steam the dumplings golden brown for 25 minutes. They just wouldn’t come out as pretty in the slow cooker.

Now that the leaves are cracking underfoot and we’re just beginning to see our breath outside, throw this dish together. I promise your whole family will thank you. These dumplings are so light and delicious, I don’t think I can ever order the Cracker Barrel version again. I’ll just have to make do with their crispy fried chicken.

2 cups of homemade chicken stock (or low sodium store-bought will do in a pinch)

2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 3 inch pieces

1¾ teaspoons baking powder

½ cup of milk with a little extra if needed

1 bag of frozen peas

½ teaspoon of paprika

½ teaspoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of dried thyme

1 teaspoon of dried sage

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Peel and cut onion and carrots.

Clean and cut the chicken thighs.

In a large (5 or 6 quart) dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and thyme and sage. Cook, stirring sometimes, about 5 minutes until the onion is fragrant and softened.

Add ¼ cup of flour and stir well to coat the onion. Cook for about 30 seconds to burn off the flour taste. Add the chicken stock and stir well to make sure there are no flour lumps.

Add the chicken, give a good mix with a wooden spoon. Cover the dutch oven and leave to cook on medium low for 20 minutes. Stir a few times.

While the chicken cooks, make the dumpling batter. Pour the remaining ¾ cups of flour in a bowl. Add paprika, onion powder, ½ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Stir to mix. Add the baking powder and stir again. Make a well in the middle and pour in ½ cup of milk. Stir. The batter should be a little thicker than pancake batter. It should be able to drop from a spoon fairly easily. Add a little more milk to thin out if needed.

Remove the lid from the dutch oven. Add the frozen peas. Stir to mix.

Now drop the dumpling batter in 3 tablespoon dollops all over the top of the chicken sauce. These will swell up so try to not have them touch.

Put the top back on the dutch oven. Cook for another 20 minutes until the dumplings are light golden. Serve and enjoy.

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]]>http://chefdruck.com/2017/10/chicken-and-dumplings/feed/0http://chefdruck.com/2017/10/chicken-and-dumplings/Mexican Corn off the Cob and Hanging on to Some of Summerhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChefdruckMusings/~3/fPSQ2FwnAxs/
http://chefdruck.com/2017/09/mexican-corn-off-the-cob/#respondThu, 07 Sep 2017 19:40:17 +0000http://chefdruck.com/?p=6215Although the backpacks are lined up at the door, we’re still celebrating summer bounty at dinner time, bringing as much color and flavor as we can to family dinner. Sweet summer corn is at its peak right now in the Midwest. I buy a dozen ears at the farmer’s market for less than $5. The kids love it simply boiled and on the cob. Of course that’s delicious, but I like my corn off the cob and Mexican style. A little spice to balance the sweetness.

Summer came and went without many posts on this blog. The days flew by, unstructured for the most part, filled with time at the pool, tennis matches, and adventures downtown. When school ends, chaos fills the house. I used to fight against it, struggle to hang on to my routine, to my writing. But now that Bella’s in high school and Sophie is starting kindergarten, the summers feel numbered suddenly and I have learned to give in to the chaos gratefully. Instead of fighting it, I let the freedom of summer wash over us, living day by day, one sunset at a time. Summer as it should be.

This just makes back to school that much harder. But we’re almost there.
My first step to bringing back routine to our lives is the return of the menu blackboard. Dinners for Monday through Thursday planned out on Sunday. This little board drives my shopping, my cooking, and makes us all much more sane. Talk to the board if you don’t like dinner. Find me before I write it out on Sunday night, or embrace trying something new. If all else fails, make yourself a turkey sandwich. And whatever you choose, DON’T YUCK MY YUM!

But back to Mexican corn off the cob. I do mine table side. Just a simple assembly while everyone else is biting down on their corn cob. The only unusual ingredient you’ll need is a hunk of cotija, an aged salty, creamy Mexican cheese. Have you been intrigued by the Mexican cheese offerings at your local supermarket, but never experimented? Here’s a breakdown of Mexican Cheeses by Bon Appetit. You can assemble your Mexican Corn off the cob before dinner as well – depends on your night and how many people are eating.

This recipe is for one ear of corn as my family prefers their corn on the cob with a generous slick of butter. But you can do a dozen ears of corn if you'd like, cut and seasoned before dinner.

Shuck and boil the corn for 6 minutes in salted water.

Cut the corn kernels off the cob.

Top with the pat of butter and stir until melted.

Squeeze the juice of ½ the lime on top. Stir again to distribute evenly.

Grate the cotija cheese on top.

Add the ancho chili powder, salt and pepper to your liking.

Eat the corn while it's hot!

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I’ve missed reflecting about cooking and life on the blog. Facebook steals my words, but it’s so temporary there, thoughts and feelings at the mercy of an ever changing algorithm. So many voices. So much outrage. So much to be outraged about. But now that the house is quiet again and the routine of back to school has almost fallen into place, the space to write is mine again. words for both the blog and my fiction are returning. It’s good to be back. One meal and one word at a time.
]]>http://chefdruck.com/2017/09/mexican-corn-off-the-cob/feed/0http://chefdruck.com/2017/09/mexican-corn-off-the-cob/Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Brownies To Keep Memories Alivehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChefdruckMusings/~3/QQALXT1MefU/
http://chefdruck.com/2017/06/peanut-butter-brownies/#respondMon, 26 Jun 2017 16:37:55 +0000http://chefdruck.com/?p=6207Last summer, we spent 10 days at a dude ranch in Montana. The memories, vivid sights, sounds and smells, have not faded in the last year. If I close my eyes, I can hear the pounding of the horses hooves at dawn as they galloped down the frosty dirt road from their pasture above our cabin. I can feel how quickly the warmth of the sun ran from my face as the sun set behind the mountains. I can see the joy on Jack’s face the first time he was allowed to let his horse run up the trail. No electronics and no schedule beyond the dinner bell, mornings fishing on the river, and two rides a day made for so many moments etched in our family memory bank in such a beautiful setting. Next summer, we’ve all agreed, we’ll go back next summer.

So this summer, as our cowboy boots lie in the back of our closets, we’re trying to keep our memories alive. My favorite way to get everyone’s stories flowing is by baking the brownies that were served around the campfire during the sing along night. The light corn syrup gives them a crackly skin, and I cut them small to serve as sweet little bites by our backyard campfire. Who can resist the call of chocolate by the fire? I may not have a herd of appaloosa horses to lure them in, but brownies come close.

I’ve tweaked the recipe that was in the Nine Quarter Circle Ranch cookbook, and I keep on tweaking it over time, depending on our mood. My latest creation was the addition of honey roasted peanut butter spoonfuls to the batter just before baking. Some pieces have a peanut butter surprise in the middle while others remain more traditional. Something for everyone, just like on the dude ranch.

Last I checked, there were still some weeks available at the Nine Quarter Circle Ranch this summer, including a special week dedicated to photography of a special lunar eclipse. We can’t make the dude ranch happen for our family this summer, but it could work for yours. I promise you’ll make memories for a lifetime.

Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave in a medium microwave safe bowl. First for 60 seconds then for extra increments of 30 seconds until the chocolate is glistening and the butter is all melted. Remove and finish mixing with a dry spoon. Let cool for 5 minutes while measuring the other ingredients.

Add the eggs, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and salt to the melted chocolate. Blend with a hand mixer.

Add the flour and blend until just combined.

Pour into the pyrex pan. Bang it on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles.

Using a soup spoon, drop chunks of peanut butter evenly throughout the batter. Then dot evenly with the chocolate chips.

Cook for 35 minutes until the top is crisp and a toothpick comes out clean.

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]]>http://chefdruck.com/2017/06/peanut-butter-brownies/feed/0http://chefdruck.com/2017/06/peanut-butter-brownies/We All Need to Read the Hate U Give by Angie Thomashttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChefdruckMusings/~3/mCE8Lez7RjE/
http://chefdruck.com/2017/05/the-hate-u-give/#respondWed, 31 May 2017 21:33:05 +0000http://chefdruck.com/?p=6202Over the last couple of weeks, I took a deep dive in the YA pool, reading two YA novels that have been all over the news lately: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and the Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Both made for great conversation with my big kids, but only the Hate U Give is worthy of a recommendation. And when I say recommendation, I mean it’s the type of book that I plan to buy and give to total strangers and friends alike. It’s that good.

The Hate U Give is Angie Thomas‘ first novel. It’s beautifully written, with fully drawn characters that inspire deep connections. The novel’s main character is Starr Carter, a 16-year old girl torn between two worlds: days at a fancy private school and nights in a small apartment in a gang and drug filled inner city neighborhood. Starr’s father is a former drug dealer who spent 3 years in prison when she was a small child. He now runs the neighborhood food store and has nothing to do with the gangs. Starr’s mother is a nurse, who works long hours at the community hospital. Both parents are strict but loving, and they are committed to having their three children go to college and have easier lives.

Starr straddles these two worlds uneasily, but successfully, not quite being herself anywhere, until her childhood best friend is killed by a policeman as she sits shaking in the passenger seat. The murder shatters her equilibrium as her two worlds collide.

Here in Chicago, the gang and drug violence is all around us. It’s something I think about when I plan my route into the city, or when the traffic on the highway slows to a standstill and I weigh the risk of taking back roads home. There are shootings every single day, but the numbers grow in the summer. Although I live so close to this violence, until reading the Hate U Give, it wasn’t something I truly understood. This book has given me a small taste of what life must be like in Austin and other gang-ruled neighborhoods. It has helped me see the community and love there, even amidst the violence. And it has given me an appreciation of all the obstacles to those who strive for a different life.

Each time I read about a shooting, I am filled with a sense of powerlessness. The problem of violence in Chicago is so huge – what can one person do? But this one great read is an important first step. With greater understanding comes greater empathy, and from that only progress can come.

Grab a copy of the the Hate U Give without waiting another day. It’s not only an important book, it’s also a gripping read. I promise you won’t be able to put it down, and you’ll want it to continue, to remain with Starr and her boisterous and loving family, long after the last page.

]]>http://chefdruck.com/2017/05/the-hate-u-give/feed/0http://chefdruck.com/2017/05/the-hate-u-give/Ratatouille: the Vegetable Comfort Food to Ease the Pain of New Braceshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChefdruckMusings/~3/722FurHjKjw/
http://chefdruck.com/2017/05/ratatouille/#respondWed, 03 May 2017 15:50:42 +0000http://chefdruck.com/?p=6191When I went with my first child to get braces, I wasn’t really prepared for any of it: the huge expense, the cold grip around my heart at seeing my child made so old all of the sudden, his mouth filled with metal. And I wasn’t prepared for his pain, for his panic at feeling trapped by an appliance glued in his mouth.
Jack with Wilson, in the middle of his braces treatment, taking a 2 week break before putting on another set of braces.

Yesterday was my second time around putting a child in braces, this time with Juju. And I was ready, for all of it: the pain, the emotions, and, most importantly, the menu.

There’s nothing worse than coming home with those braces, emotionally shaken, and terrified of making the pain worse by eating. I knew we’d need soft, but delicious foods to be able to see her new bejeweled smile. Macaroni and cheese could be a day two treat, for the first day, I was ready with something truly special: ratatouille. There are few other dishes that taste like comfort food, that are actually good for you. Each bite of ratatouille tastes like an afternoon in the South of France, full of olive oil and rosemary.

Ratatouille, with its soft yet flavorful vegetables, is the perfect food for the pain of new braces. And it’s healthy too! Each bite tastes like sunshine in a bowl. It’s also truly a labor of love to make, so it felt like a special gesture. The tomatoes need to be blanched and peeled. All those vegetables need to be chopped. Ratatouille isn’t a frequent part of my dinner line up, but when it all comes together, layer after layer of vegetables coaxed to the peak of their flavor, I always regret not making it more.

I’m not sure the ratatouille will be enough to bring a smile to Juju’s face tonight, but it will be my best shot. And at least I’ll be enjoying it too!

Ratatouille is one the rare dishes that taste like comfort food, but that are actually good for you. Each bite tastes like the South of France, full of sunshine, olive oil and rosemary.

Author: Vanessa Druckman

Cuisine: French

Serves: serves 608

Ingredients

1 eggplant, diced into 1 inch cubes

1 red pepper, diced into 1 inch cubes

1 green pepper, diced into 1 inch cubes

3 small yellow squash, diced into 1 inch cubes

3 small zucchini, diced into 1 inch cubes

1 medium onion, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

4 aromatic tomatoes - either great summer tomatoes or tomatoes on the vine in the winter, blanched, peeled and seeded, cut into 1 inch cubes

¾ cups of water + 2 tablespoons of tomato paste

1 tablespoon or two sprigs of rosemary (preferably fresh)

1 teaspoons or one long sprig of thyme (preferably fresh)

⅓ cup of olive oil - to be added as needed as you cook

salt and pepper

Instructions

Cut all of your vegetables, prepping them in individual bowls.

Blanch the tomatoes, peel them, seed them, and cut them into cubes. Place in own bowl.

Measure the water and add the tomato paste, stir to mix.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Place an oven safe dutch oven on the stove as well as a large frying pan. Heat the dutch oven over medium low heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and onions and garlic and saute slowly until soft, about 5 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, light the flame under your frying pan on medium-high heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and cook the zucchini cubes until browned on all sides. Pour into the dutch oven.

Add another 2 tablespoons of olive oil and saute the yellow squash until caramelized (lightly browned) and softened. Add to the dutch oven.

Pour in more olive oil and saute the eggplant. This will take a little longer than the zucchini and squash - about 5 minutes. Add to the onions.

Periodically stir the onion mixture. to make sure it's not burning.

Add more olive oil to the pan and saute the peppers - together is fine. Add them to the other veggies when lightly browned.

Add the rosemary and thyme and the water with the tomato paste. Stir a few times and place in the oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven, stir in the chopped tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve this ratatouille warm or cold. The flavors will be even better the next day. I love my ratatouille with an over easy egg on top.

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]]>http://chefdruck.com/2017/05/ratatouille/feed/0http://chefdruck.com/2017/05/ratatouille/From Cooking to Eat to Cooking to Heal: Chocolate Peanut Butter Piehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChefdruckMusings/~3/pKTMwAPNPsY/
http://chefdruck.com/2017/04/from-cooking-to-eat-to-cooking-to-heal-chocolate-peanut-butter-pie/#respondTue, 11 Apr 2017 14:54:37 +0000http://chefdruck.com/?p=6177There’s a pose in yoga called the ball pose. After reaching towards the sky, breathing deep, I curve down into a tight little ball, forehead gently resting on my knees, balancing on the edge of my toes. I teeter in ball pose and sometimes even fall. My love of yoga is not matched by my grace. I struggle to touch my toes. My limbs don’t match the instructor’s, but that doesn’t matter. Only the peace that gradually fills me throughout class matters. I love ball pose, the feel of my breath tickling my thighs, like a secret promise of what’s to come.

For the last few months, my life has been one big ball pose. Traveling back and forth to France to be with my mother, I have been surviving, just fitting in exercise, walks with the dog, and lots of snuggles with the dog, and the kids, and my favorite blanket. All of my cooking has been functional. I’ve been cooking to eat, not to create. My body feels good, but not my soul. I haven’t been writing. I haven’t been creating. I’ve just been existing.

Now that I’m in my 40s, I see that life can pull you down sometimes. Aging parents, aging kids, everything pulls at you. It’s easy to lose your core, your essence, your spark. It’s harder to find the joy, the energy to create.

I needed to embrace one of Bella’s favorite quotes:

So this last week, I took a step towards recapturing my essence. I began cooking with creativity again, instead of just rote function. My menu board got filled with new recipes, and this weekend, I baked for fun, reaching back into my archives. I baked Mikey’s Peanut Butter Pie, a recipe I’d last baked to show support for my friend Jennie who was grieving for her husband’s untimely death. The peanut butter pie was delicious, creamy, decadent, and healing.

Trust me on this – like finding the joy amidst the sadness – the lemon juice in this recipe is the key, the slight tang that makes this recipe sing.

This recipe is from my friend Jennie Perillo. It was her late husband's favorite. It is a creamy treasure.

Author: Vanessa Druckman

Cuisine: American

Serves: serves 8-10

Ingredients

8 ounces chocolate cookies

4 tablespoons butter, melted

4 ounces finely chopped chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips

¼ cup chopped peanuts

1 cup heavy cream

8 ounces cream cheese

1 cup creamy-style peanut butter

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

optional extra 4 tablespoons of melted chocolate for drizzle

Instructions

Add the cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well. Press mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments. Pour over bottom of cookie crust and spread to the edges using an off-set spatula. Sprinkle chopped peanuts over the melted chocolate. Place pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat using a stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a small bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in a deep bowl. Beat on medium speed until light and somewhat fluffy. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioner’s sugar. Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Increase speed to medium and beat until all the ingredients are combined and filling is somewhat smooth.

Stir in ⅓ of the whipped cream into the filling mixture (helps lighten the batter, making it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream). Fold in the remaining whipped cream. Pour the filling into the prepared springform pan. Drizzle an extra 3-4 tablespoons of melted chocolate on top, if using, and refrigerate for three hours or overnight before serving.

3.4.3177

]]>http://chefdruck.com/2017/04/from-cooking-to-eat-to-cooking-to-heal-chocolate-peanut-butter-pie/feed/0http://chefdruck.com/2017/04/from-cooking-to-eat-to-cooking-to-heal-chocolate-peanut-butter-pie/History of Wolves – a Book Reviewhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChefdruckMusings/~3/5VpvsF-LRbY/
http://chefdruck.com/2017/02/history-of-wolves-a-book-review/#respondSun, 12 Feb 2017 15:52:57 +0000http://chefdruck.com/?p=6163I was consumed by History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund’s first novel. It’s a coming of age novel, set in the woods and lakes of northern Minnesota, whose pages are filled with a growing ominous tone.

The story is told from Linda’s point of view, a lonely teenager living with her parents, the last two members of a local cult community. Linda’s father is a benevolent silent presence while her mom flits between the local houses of worship, just to cover her bases.

“When I was six or seven, my mom sat me down in the bath basin in my underwear. It was midmorning, midsummer. A shaft of light caught her face. She dribbled water on my head from a measuring cup. “I wish I believed in this shit,” she told me. “

Linda essentially raises herself, most closely tied to the family’s four hound dogs.

For Linda, middle school and high school are no more welcoming than home. The other kids, moving in packs of hockey players and cheerleaders, are united in their distrust of Linda who they call “Commie” and “Freak.”

“Papers passed along in a pile. That’s what high school was.”

After walking miles through the snow home from school, barely noticed by her parents, Linda prowls the woods, alone, at one with nature. She watches the world around her, like a lone wolf.

The lake in front of Linda’s home is uninhabited, until a group of college builders erect a cabin.

“The house, when it was finished, was unlike anything I’d seen in Loose River. It had split-log siding and enormous triangular windows, a broad blood deck that jutted out over the lake like the prow of some ship.”

Soon a young family moves in, a couple with their toddler son and two cats. The man leaves and the mother and child remain behind. Linda spies on them with binoculars, noting their rituals, their intimacy, the mother’s tenderness. Then, one day in the woods, Linda runs into the mother and child. They invite her home with them and she becomes the child’s babysitter, until the disaster promised from the first page finally comes to pass.

History of Wolves is a beautifully-written story whose unavoidable conclusion leaves the reader pondering traditional notions of guilt, society, parenting responsibilities, and religion. These are all weighty themes, but what stayed with me even more were Fridlund’s descriptions of the canoe’s prow soundlessly piercing the surface of the lake at dawn as a loon calls mournfully in the distance.

History of Wolves is currently in hardcover. It was reviewed on NPR by Michael Schaub who loved it and by Jennifer Senior at the New York Times who was underwhelmed.